Experiences of a long-term remote work era

5.1.1 Benefits of remote work

Broadly, the experiences of the remote work era were positive oriented. Based on the results of the study, the main benefits experienced by the employees, were the follow-ing: time and financial savings due to the decreased need for commute, better sleeps

and time savings in the morning due to no need to dress up and, better work-life bal-ance in overall. (See Figure 5).

Figure 5. The main benefits of remote work for employee.

Majority of the interviewees concluded, that working remotely has had remarkable positive impact on their lives, both in light of overall well-being and concerning the possibility to include their other personal interests better in their lives. These issues were also found to reinforce each other.

Results indicate, that the respondents’ work-life balance was better now in times of remote work (See Figure 6). This finding is also supported by the literature, as multiple authors suggests, that remote work improves employees’ quality of life (Global Work-place Analytics, 2018; Haapakoski et al., 2020; Raines-Loring, 2020).

You just need to decide not to overthink work. One needs to understand to keep the line between work and other life. I’m much happier now, compared to what I was when I needed to commute to the office. (Interviewee 4)

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Time savings Better work-life balance Financial savings Decreased commuting

I’ve tried to mediate every morning. In the office, it’s definitely not possible.

Additionally, I’m enjoying all I can by going for a walk to the forest during lunch or other breaks. For me this remote work era has been a huge relief. I have noticed that my daily pulse have settled down and I’m not that stress, as I used to be (time before COVID-19). In overall, I feel much better now. (Inter-viewee 5)

Figure 6. The level of work-life balance of the respondents.

Findings from the interviewees also support the earlier findings of the literature, con-cerning the relationship of work-life balance and job satisfaction. According to Schwingshackl (2016), work-life balance and job satisfaction are strongly linked. Conse-quently, Ferreira et al. (2021) argues, that if an individual has a good work-life balance, he/she receives higher mobility and flexibility. This in turn, leads an individual to make own decisions concerning the use of time and place, which then, has a positive impact on job satisfaction. This relationship can also be seen in the results of the respondents.

Those respondents, who had work and other life in balance, also had higher job satis-faction.

I close my computer in the afternoon, when the daily work time is reached. Af-ter that, I won’t get back to the tasks, even I can see the compuAf-ter the rest of the day. (Interviewee 1)

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Balanced Partly balanced

Yes, definitely, yes. I am satisfied and I want to stay in this position and com-pany. (Interviewee 1)

Other benefits of remote work and decreased commutes were related to time savings.

Interviewees with a family, experienced time savings to be a major benefit, as they have been given remarkably more time with their family.

When I have a quiet moment at work, I can work in a living room simultane-ously enjoying the company of my child and wife. These moments combine my work and family. (Interviewee 10)

Interviewees without a family experienced positive impacts in means of better oppor-tunities to socialize and include hobbies and time for own interest even after a working day.

I can go to the gym in the morning, as I don’t need to dress up for work. Thus, releasing more free time from the afternoon. I also sleep better as it’s easier to schedule, which is especially meaningful for me. (Interviewee 2)

My hobby is in a field of music, so I play in a band. We usually start our prac-tice at 5pm and I used to hurry to get there in time. Now I have more time to transfer and do other things before our practice starts. (Interviewee 4)

In addition to the time savings, decreased commuting found to result in financial sav-ings. Multiple respondents have calculated remarkable financial savings due to the de-creased commuting. Financial savings has been reported to be a benefit, in earlier studies of remote work as well (Global Analytics, 2018; Haapakoski et al., 2020; Mullen, 2017). Thus, results of this study support this argument.

I save two hours per day thanks to remote work and the decreased need for commute. Also, I’m making financial savings due to not commuting. (Inter-viewee 2)

Remote work was also found to result in beneficial outcomes from the organizational perspective. The results indicate that some of the respondents were even able to con-centrate better at home (See Figure 7). This argument is also supported by the litera-ture. According to Bloomsbury Publishing (2005) working remotely increases the possi-bility to work more productively, especially if a task requires a high level of concentra-tion and uninterrupted peace. Henderson (2020) supports this argument by reporting that remote work enhances the possibility to choose a quiet and less destructive place to do the work. Multiple respondents experienced that they were more productive and efficient when working remotely (See Figure 7).

I require peace and possibility to concentrate on my work. Remote work has given that to me. (Interviewee 3)

It’s easier to focus, when I don’t have all my colleagues around me asking for an advice or just casually chatting. When all the contacts come from one channel, they are easier to manage. (Interviewee 3)

Figure 7. The main benefits of remote work for organization.

Additionally, literature argues that remote work results to reduced absenteeism and turnover (Global Workplace Analytics, 2018; Henderson, 2020). Related to reduced

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Increased Employee Efficiency Increased Employee Productivity Increased Employee Engagement

absenteeism and turnover, the relation between remote work and employee engage-ment has been found to be positive (Mullen, 2017; Raines-Loring, 2020). The connec-tion between increased employee engagement and remote work was also found to exist in the present study.

When COVID-19 started, remote work was scary. It was hard to focus on any-thing. However, when I got used to it, I would not change this anymore. It is so cool, that I can do whatever I want in my lunch break. And as our company has handled so well all the organization of remote work and communication con-cerning it, this definitely has increased my engagement. (Interviewee 1)

I like that I can do my work without direct observation, as the situation was at the office environment. The possibility to self-decide my working habits and places, do engage me. (Interviewee 6)

These results from this study indicate that remote work has remarkable positive impact on employees and for organization. However, the present study revealed also challeng-es concerning remote work. They will be prchalleng-esented in the next subchapter.

5.1.2 Challenges of remote work

Regardless of the multiple benefits remote work includes, the transition to the remote work has also caused some challenges among the employees. Based on the results of the study, the main challenges in remote work are the following: maintaining a team interaction and thus, lack of communality and decreased knowledge transfer. Also, challenges in time management and, creating a rhythm in one’s work day was recog-nized (See Figure 8).

Figure 8. The main challenges of remote work.

Multiple respondents experienced challenging to maintain a team interaction, which when absent, leads to the lack of communality. That was found to be the most remark-able disadvantage. Majority of the respondents enjoyed the benefits of remote work, however those benefits suffered from the lack of communality. Respondents had no-ticed a remarkable decrease in the communality, compared to the time before the pandemic, when work was done daily in the office. The importance of communality has been recognized in multiple studies in literature. Lack of it and working remotely has resulted on employees feeling isolated. (Deci & Ryan, 2002; Lyons, 2016; Mullen, 2017;

Vilkman, 2016) This disadvantage of isolation could already be recognized in the an-swers of the respondents.

The negative side of remote work is being isolated from your colleagues. (In-terviewee 8)

Lack of communality due to reduced interaction and meeting of my colleagues, have harmed my motivation. (Interviewee 7)

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Lack of interaction Lack of communality Challenges in time management Challenges in creating a rhythm Lack of knowledge transfer

Positive side of remote work is to be able to participate on educations on-line.

However, I used to see my old and current colleagues on those educations all the time. That is something I really miss. Additionally, I miss the laugh and dis-cussion also in the office environment. (Interviewee 5)

In addition to the communality, interaction has a vital role in transferring knowledge across the organization. Thus, the respondents experienced challenging to receive and forward knowledge and information in overall. Literature has emphasized the im-portance of interaction and knowledge transfer, as these activities have seen to reduce due to the nature of remote work (Koehne et al., 2012; Vilkman 2016; Wynter, 2020).

There’s no occasional meetings at the office, which have supported these activities prior the pandemic (Wynter 2020).

Occasional knowledge sharing has stopped, as you rarely see your colleagues’

now days. (Interviewee 1)

It’s difficult to manage all the contact requests, as messages are coming from many different channels all the time. (Interviewee 5)

Remote work was also experienced challenging in means of use of time and creating a rhythm in to the remote work day. As stated in the literature, if the work is performed entirely remotely and the working hours can be defined by the employee themselves to some extent at least, clear working hours needs to be discussed to avoid overtime (Salli, 2012). Multiple respondents experienced that is more challenging to stay in the set time frame and stop working in the afternoon, when the work is done at home.

On the other hand, it’s harder to schedule the days. Now when the work is done mainly from home, I easily work later, for example. Then I also stay up later and the restitution is more challenging. (Interviewee 7)

Even I can close my computer, I can’t close the pressure that someone is wait-ing to get a reply from me or someone is waitwait-ing me to do a specific task. I know that they don’t wait the reply today but when working remotely instead of office, the work day is harder to leave. (Interviewee 3)

I sometimes work longer, because I think that as I’m anyway already home, I can do couple more things to lighten the work load. (Interviewee 10)

In addition, one of the respondents experienced occasional challenges in managing her work-life balance (See Figure 6). However, she recognized that the reason for it was in her own time management challenges.

I think it is just up to me. I need to learn to say no to some acute tasks and hence, leaving enough time to manage the tasks planned to specific time frame. (Interviewee 5)

This finding supports the existing literature on the importance of time management. To reach a healthy balance between work and other life, an employee needs to have time management skills and agendas for organizing the balance (Koehne et al., 2012). In turn, healthy balance increases the job satisfaction, which then, leads to higher productivity (Ferreira et al., 2012; Koehne et al., 2012; Schwingshackl, 2016).

These results are alarming, as time management challenges were found in multiple interviewees. Estimating the right amount of work for each employee can be challeng-ing, when observing the work is done distantly. However, if the employees continue to work overtime, it can result to decrease the productivity. (Vilkman, 2016) Because of this, trust and open communication between the employee and the employer is cru-cial.

To conclude, based on the study, remote work has multiple beneficial outcomes but involves also challenges. However, the success in remote work is strongly linked also to the skills in self-leadership. The next subchapter will outline the results of the study concerning the recognized self-leadership strategies and then, examining the observed outcomes of self-leadership.